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Monday February 29 2016

For immediate Release

OTTAWA- Postal workers are teaming up with environmental, Indigenous and community groups on Leap Day, February 29th, to present innovative ideas for a different kind of post office – one that might fuel a greener economy.

“With a review of Canada Post in the works and the government pledging money for infrastructure, we have a rare opportunity to think big about how to move to a more caring and localized low-carbon economy,” said Naomi Klein, an initiating author of the Leap Manifesto, a blueprint for getting Canada off fossil fuels.

“Now is the time to do more than protect the status quo: we need to have the courage to reimagine it, which is precisely what Canada’s postal workers are doing,” she added.

Among the ideas proposed by the “Delivering Community Power” campaign: electric charging stations at post offices, converting the postal fleet to made-in-Canada electric vehicles, mail carriers checking up on seniors and those with limited mobility, and postal banking as a means of financial inclusion and green investment.

“What if we used Canada Post’s vast delivery network to deliver the kinds of changes that Canadians really want – environmentally friendly options that support rural and Indigenous communities and local businesses?” said Brenda McAuley, national president of the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association.

“When there’s a war on, Canadians have tooled up and transformed their economy in a matter of months. It’s time to tool up to fight climate change and our post office can be that tool,” said Mike Palecek of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which has long been proposing environmental initiatives to Canada Post.

The coalition, which also includes Idle No More, ACORN and Friends of Public Services, is asking Canadians to actively participate in the review of Canada Post, putting forward these and other ideas to expand and leverage the assets of the public postal system rather than cut, deregulate and privatize it.

“Cuts, privatization and fee hikes are backward notions that increase inequality and undermine public services. We’re looking at the future,” added Palecek.

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For more information, please contact Aalya Ahmad, CUPW Communications, at 613-327-1177 or aahmad@cupw-sttp.org. Leap Manifesto actions are taking place across the country on February 29th. For information about the Leap Manifesto, contact Bianca Mugyeni at 514-436-7629 or bianca@leapmanifesto.org